Games That Don’t Have a Thread Catch-All

Anybody playing The Chant?

I bought Black Skylands this weekend and so far I'm enjoying it. It's the first game I've bought in quite a while (vs Gamepass and Humble Bundle and various freebies). I spent a while agonizing over the decision to buy it because I feel like I've been burned by a lot of pretty, intriguing pixel art games.

Anyway, it seems to be pretty much what it promises to be - an open world-ish cloudpunk pixel action game with elements of Hotline Miami and SNES Zelda with lots of upgrading and a few farming sim elements.

If the videos on the Steam store page look like something you might want to play, it's probably worth trying out.

I forget, Polq, did you ever play, well, the actual Cloudpunk game? It's amazing.

Robear wrote:

I forget, Polq, did you ever play, well, the actual Cloudpunk game? It's amazing. :-)

No, I never played it.

I guess I misused the term. I was going for something "steampunky, but set in the sky". Maybe sort of like Skies of Arcadia. It looks like Cloudpunk is something pretty different.

It's... Gentle Cyberpunk.

Sundown wrote:

That's too bad. I was hoping that Harvestella would turn out to be pretty good after Rune Factory 5 seems to have fallen flat.

I’m definitely liking it a lot better than Rune Factory 5. There’s more story, first of all. But it’s definitely an acquired taste; if you’re used to the art style of Bravely Default/Octopath Traveler/Various Daylife/Triangle Strategy, it might not be as jarring. In other words, it’s lower budget than Final Fantasy because it’s from a totally different division.

Victorian skypunk?

sometimesdee wrote:
Sundown wrote:

That's too bad. I was hoping that Harvestella would turn out to be pretty good after Rune Factory 5 seems to have fallen flat.

I’m definitely liking it a lot better than Rune Factory 5. There’s more story, first of all. But it’s definitely an acquired taste; if you’re used to the art style of Bravely Default/Octopath Traveler/Various Daylife/Triangle Strategy, it might not be as jarring. In other words, it’s lower budget than Final Fantasy because it’s from a totally different division.

I enjoyed the demo of Harvestella, which covers the first few hours of gameplay. It hooked me more than Rune Factory 5 as well.

IMAGE(https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1942280/header.jpg)

It's a run-based bullet-hell reverse tower defense game with RPG stats. With me so far? No? Ok. Basically you're an anthropomorphic potato with a boatload of combat stats and the ability to wield six weapons simultaneously, while avoiding an onslaught of aliens across each of 20 waves per run. Killing enemies awards you with XP, and money that can be collected from the ground. Between each wave you apply your level-ups by choosing between a few different randomized powers, and buy stuff at the shop (weapons, items) using the resources collected. The actual combat gameplay is entirely just movement; the weapons will all autoattack, and you just have to focus on getting within range and avoiding getting hit.

It's still in Early Access (which I generally try to avoid), but there's already a ton of gameplay available and lots of replayability.

polq37 wrote:

I bought Black Skylands this weekend and so far I'm enjoying it.

Even though the tech and presentation and story are completely different, the game that Black Skylands most reminds me of is Drakan: Order of the Flame.

I think the similarity is something about the way that the game consistently and coherently shifts in scale between the open world skies and the on-foot mission areas. It may also have something to do with the way the player can absolutely wreck the very dangerous but hapless goons who are within range of the ship's guns (or dragon's breath, back in Drakan).

Anyway, I loved Drakan and it has been over 20 years since any other game has hit the kind of feeling that Drakan had.

merphle wrote:

IMAGE(https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1942280/header.jpg)

It's a run-based bullet-hell reverse tower defense game with RPG stats. With me so far? No? Ok. Basically you're an anthropomorphic potato with a boatload of combat stats and the ability to wield six weapons simultaneously, while avoiding an onslaught of aliens across each of 20 waves per run. Killing enemies awards you with XP, and money that can be collected from the ground. Between each wave you apply your level-ups by choosing between a few different randomized powers, and buy stuff at the shop (weapons, items) using the resources collected. The actual combat gameplay is entirely just movement; the weapons will all autoattack, and you just have to focus on getting within range and avoiding getting hit.

It's still in Early Access (which I generally try to avoid), but there's already a ton of gameplay available and lots of replayability.

I don't think the core gameplay and weapon variety is quite as good as Vampire Survivors, but Brotato has more difference between characters. Well worth checking out if you liked VS.

Rob Zacny's headline for his review of Midnight Suns is making me rethink my plan to purchase it this week:

'Midnight Suns' Is Less Marvel XCOM and More Marvel Fire Emblem

That's .... not what I'm here for. I haven't watched or read anything Marvel since the first of the late 90s Spiderman movies, so the Marvel side really doesn't hold a lot of interest for me. And to be clear, he likes the game, but based on the review he also seems to have much more of a connection to Marvel stuff than I do.

I posted links to a couple reviews

https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/...

It went from a buy to a pick up on sale for me.

A shoutout to a couple indies I have recently played!

I beat Signalis recently. Had the atmosphere of the early Resident Evil games. Stressful, rewarding, with some clever puzzles. Highly recommended and on Gamepass.

Currently playing Ghost Song which is also on Gamepass. It is a Metroidvania, with RPG upgrade elements, and a soulslike twist where you drop your currency where you die. Unlike souls games I have read that it does not disappear if you die again. It is a very mysterious world that also contains some friendly NPCs. I binged on this over the weekend.

ASTLIBRA_Revision

Randomly came across this game. Saw that it has overwhelming positive reviews on steam and was curious. First thought it was a metroidvania, but no its an action jrpg. Not turn based but side scrolling. If this was made in the Snes era it would be a classic franchise like final fantasy.

Gameplay is quite fun and you constantly change your gear to unlock more skills. Then theirs the magic system, and the sphere grid system, leveling system, and one spoiler system. It works really well. There is a weakness if you are underlevelled you get pummeled though. Stats matter basically.

That's not what surprised me though. The story is actually really interesting. It start with a generic intro which the game literally tells you can skip. And some of the writing in a technical sense is weak, but interesting stuff keeps happening. Couple that with the good gameplay and I've lost like 10 hours in the past two days to it. Really hidden gem.

Rob Zacny's headline for his review of Midnight Suns is making me rethink my plan to purchase it this week

I noped out of my preorder just under the wire today. I was put off by all the reviews that said "the combat is great but there is 10 minutes of vapid unskippable dialogue to get to it, each time" A shame, really. The rest sounds pretty good.

Turns out my love of what the XCOM team does outweighed my complete apathy towards anything Marvel. Downloading now.

Yeah. I'll probably pick it up after the holidays. I do love everything firaxis does.

As soon as it hits a sale I will bite but mixed reviews and a huge backlog have made me a warry shopper.

EvilDead wrote:

I beat Signalis recently. Had the atmosphere of the early Resident Evil games. Stressful, rewarding, with some clever puzzles. Highly recommended and on Gamepass.

I'll second that recommendation. Unless something dramatic happens, SIGNALIS is definitely going on my GOTY list, and high up too.

Why doesn't Midnight Suns have its own thread? Lots of talk here, and in XCOM and other threads. And then it was delayed I guess, but not as delayed as feared.

Here's a review for the new Need For Speed Unbound that no one asked for.

+ I really like the handling. It doesn't have a whole lot in common with real cars but drifting and racing is just fun
+ On the technical side it seems to be fine. Runs fine on PC, good frame rate, looks good, no crashes, cross play with all platforms and no disconnects in multiplayer
+/- The customization and car selection is great. There's a lot of assets borrowed from Heat... which had assets from Payback, which had assets from NFS 2016... well, you get it. But there's some new body kits, bumper deletes, stuff like that.
+ I like the wrap customization because it's fast and easy to make something decent. Forza has better tools but Unbound has a lot of premade stuff to just slap on your car
- Multiplayer and story mode are kept entirely separate for some reason. I've mostly been playing multiplayer because of that
- Multiplayer doesn't have cops or free roam night
- Multiplayer is PVP racing only. PVP races are fun but adding bots would sure be convenient for filling out games

Multiplayer feels incomplete. EA/Criterion have "Vol. 1" printed on the multiplayer select, and they said no cops at launch, so there's an implicit promise of more multiplayer content. We'll see I guess.

Story mode is decent and feels like a complete game. It's very difficult to earn money, so you kind of have to start off losing races and claw your way up from the bottom. Can't help but compare it to Forza Horizon's progression, where they shower you in free cars and money.

Is it a good game? I'd say so. Is it worth $70? That's a personal question. Maybe.

Alien Love Gardener wrote:
EvilDead wrote:

I beat Signalis recently. Had the atmosphere of the early Resident Evil games. Stressful, rewarding, with some clever puzzles. Highly recommended and on Gamepass.

I'll second that recommendation. Unless something dramatic happens, SIGNALIS is definitely going on my GOTY list, and high up too.

High up there on mine too! Hopefully it has held up for you.

BuzzW wrote:

Is it a good game? I'd say so. Is it worth $70? That's a personal question. Maybe.

For some reason it is $90 CAD, before taxes, on Steam.

Vector wrote:

For some reason it is $90 CAD, before taxes, on Steam.

Yikes, for no good reason either. I don't like saying whether x game is worth y money because it's all subjective etc, but... dang.

DAVE THE DIVER

Right up front: Yes, it's still in early access, but the game is immensely playable through the prologue and first three chapters (I've put in 4 hours and I just hit chapter 2).

It's an action-adventure spearfishing game mashed up with a restaurant management sim, absolutely oozing with immaculate pixel-art styyyyyyle, and a boppin' soundtrack. Also the story is completely bonkers, and filled with delightfully hyperbolic characters. This game is way deeper (pun intended) than it has any right to be.

Edit: Ah, damn! I posted without doing research. There's already a thread!

master0 wrote:

ASTLIBRA_Revision

Randomly came across this game. Saw that it has overwhelming positive reviews on steam and was curious. First thought it was a metroidvania, but no its an action jrpg. Not turn based but side scrolling. If this was made in the Snes era it would be a classic franchise like final fantasy.

Gameplay is quite fun and you constantly change your gear to unlock more skills. Then theirs the magic system, and the sphere grid system, leveling system, and one spoiler system. It works really well. There is a weakness if you are underlevelled you get pummeled though. Stats matter basically.

That's not what surprised me though. The story is actually really interesting. It start with a generic intro which the game literally tells you can skip. And some of the writing in a technical sense is weak, but interesting stuff keeps happening. Couple that with the good gameplay and I've lost like 10 hours in the past two days to it. Really hidden gem.

ASTLIBRA needs more visibility. I'm really enjoying my time with it. I get quite a bit of a Faxanadu vibe from it, and it's succeeded in getting me to actually use magic and consumables regularly, which is a thing that almost no JRPG in history has succeeded in getting me to do. Also I'm enjoying being "forced" to use many different weapons and armors, just so I can master them for their innate bonus.

It's not without its faults, though. There's a bit of wonky menuing, and maybe some translation improvements, but core gameplay is solid, and the story's engaging me.

I played the demo and it was fun enough to put on my wishlist but not to immediately purchase. I will get there at some point

Going to have to wishlist dave the diver. I could get it now but I've learned I'm okay with waiting until a game is finished even if it's good now.

Beat ASTLIBRA recently. It is definitely wonky like you said. It feels like somebody lifted a SNES action jrpg and ported it to the original playstation. Still all the way until the end the gameplay was fun for me and the story just got better as it went.